Ink fountain for printing presses



Aug. i6, i949. Jf P; BORR 2,479,103

INK FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 29, 194s v 2 sheets-sheet 1 Joseph I? Dorf' By I ug. 16, 1943 J. P. BORR 2,4?903 l r INK FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 29, 1946 f v l 2 sheets-sheet 2 'Y Inl/enfer: Joseph RDW? Patented Aug. 16, 1949 vUNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE 2,419,103 INK FOUNTAIN Foa PRINTTNG PnEssEs Joseph P. Dorr, Washington, D. C., assignor to Capital Tool & lManufacturing Company, Washington, D. vC., a partnership Application May 29, 1946, Serial No. 673,053

Claims. (ci. 10i-366) conjunction with presses of different types in that the ink supply ducts can be readily positioned in 'operative relationship with the ink cylinder of the press and the feed actuating devices can be readily associated with a rotating member of the press which serves as the driving member for said actuating devices, more or less regardless of the location of said rotating member with respect tothe ink cylinder.

Specifically, in the present fountain construction pressure is imposed on ink in the fountain reservoir by a plunger or piston vertically reciprocated within the ink reservoir by a shaft journaled in and projecting beyond the reservoir Walls, a projecting end of said shaft having driving connections, including a driving pulley, which. are adjustable circumferentially of said shaft whereby said pulley can be adjusted relatively to the shaft and the reservoir, both vertically and laterally, to assume various positions for engaging with a rotating part of the press which is to serve as the drive shaft, so to speak, for said plunger actuating connections.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a pressure feed ink reservoir which can be mounted and dismounted on the press expeditiously.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, al1 as will hereinafter be more fully described and the novel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the reservoir with the driving connections for the feed plunger omitted;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the reservoir but partly broken away to illustrate the interior of the reservoir at one end thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View on the line.` 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view transversely of the plunger; and

reservoir and showing, more or less diagrammatically, the reservoir associated with feed elements of a printing press;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a portion of the reservoir and the drive connections for the feed Figf' is a sectional view on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6.

While the ink reservoir may take various shapes of an elongated nature, it is shown in the present instance as consisting of end walls III,

Il, .upwardly flaring side walls I2, I3, and a bottom preferably of sectional construction provided with ducts through which ink is supplied from the reservoir to the ink cylinder of the press. For instance, where the reservoir can be positioned in substantially the same horizontal plane with the ink cylinder, said bottom may comprise an extension I4 which projects laterally beyond vthe side I3 of the reservoir to a Vpoint where its extreme edge may be said to constitute an ink cylinder engaging edge or surface in a sense that the ink is delivered to this edge, indicated at I5, of the reservoir bottom and at which point it is deposited upon the ink cylinder I6 of the press. Preferably, the cylinder engaging edge or surface I5'is of concave formation, a separable rib llia having a dished surface and which actually forms a. portion of the bottom I4 being mounted on the edge of said bottom in the present construction for purposes which will presently appear. Within the reservoir, said bottom is made of additional thickness and is formed with an elongated slot or recess II. Extending from one wall of said recess to said ink cylinder engaging edge of the bottom there are one or more supply lines or ink ducts i8 whereby ink may ow from the reservoir through the channel or recess and the ducts to the point where it is discharged at the edge of the'reservoir bottom on to the ink cylinder. Preferably, in order to 'effect economies in production, the bottom is made of increased thickness by the use of an additional plate I4n within the area dened by the reservoir walls and the ink supply lines are formed by continuous ducts drilled through said plate Illa and the side walls of the reservoir and small pipes or tubes I8 which extend between said ducts andsimilar ducts IIIb infthe rib I5* on the ink depositing edge of the reservoir bottom. At least one end of the tubes I8a should be xedly attached with one of the ducts I8, I8J in order to eliminate possibilities of accidental displacement. The tubes I8a may be protected by a cover plate 20.

In order to supply the ink through these channels or ducts with afforce feed there is a plate like plunger I9 adapted to be vertically reciprocated in the recess so that when the plunger is raised ink will have access to the recess and when the plate plunger is depressed ink in said recess will be forced through the ducts to the ink discharge point. The iiow of ink from the recess through the ducts can be regulated by a series of valves 2l with which the cross-sectional area of the individual ducts can be varied. For instance, the valves 2l may be threaded in the reservoir bottom and provided with tapered inner ends which are adjustable axially of the ducts I8 by screwing said valves in or out of the reservoir bottom. Thus, the quantity of ink supplied to the ink cylinder through the several ducts may be varied while the pressure of such feed is constant.

Preferably, the plate plunger is reeiprocated by eccentrics 22 mounted on a shaft 2,3 journaled in the end walls of the reservoir, said eccentrics being associated with the plunger by means of pitmans 24 whose lower ends are attached to the plunger I9 and whose upper ends are provided with elliptical openings in which the eccentrics are positioned and revolve. As will be understood, rotation of the shaft 23 and eccentrics will result in a vertical reciprocatory motion of the plate plunger, the latter being guided in its movements by guide members 25 mounted on the opposite end walls of the reservoir.

For the purpose of simplification, it is desiry able to drive the plunger actuating shaft from one of the rotating rollersor cylinders of the press. In the present instance, this is accomplished by means of a gear 26 mounted on the plunger actuating shaft 23, said gear meshing with a second gear 21 mounted on a stub shaft 28 journaled in a bracket or frame 29 and on which shaft 28 there is a pulley 30 adapted to engage the rotating member of the press to serve as the drive member for the force feed mechanism. As the location of the rotating member of the press which is to serve as the drive member may occupy different positionswith respect` to the ink cylinder in presses of different constructions, it is essential that the drive pulley be readily adjustable in order that it may be operatively associated with the selected drive member without interfering with the more or less fixed relationship which must be maintained between the reservoir bottom and the ink cylinder of the press. For this purpose the bracket 29 in which the stub shaft 28 is journaled is releasably clamped on a bushing 3| projecting from the end wall of the reservoir around the plunger actuating shaft 23. For instance, as shown in Fig. '7, the bracket may be formed with separate arms 29*i at its lower end adapted to be adjusted toward and from one another by a clamping screw 32. As shown in Fig. 5, the drive pulley is in contact with the rotating cylinder or roller 33 of the press above the ink cylinder I6 but by loosening the clamping screw 32 it is apparent that the bracket carrying gear and drive pulley can be swung circumferentially of shaft 23 to various positions circumferentially of said shaft y or vertically and laterally with respect -to the reservoir. Two such positions of adjustment are illustrated in Fig. '7, the pulley 30 being located a., one side of the reservoir, as shown at A in dotted lines, and at the opposite side of the reservlir, as shown in dotted lines at B. Also, as the bracket 29, gears 26, 21', and pulley 30 are all located beyond the end of the'reservoir, it

will be apparent that the bracket can be turned a full 360 on bushing 3|. Thus. the drive pulley can .be adjusted to any of these positions and the bracket again tightened on shaft 23, depending upon the position in which the drive pulley must be located to engage the rotating member of the press which is to serve as the drive member. Incidentally, the drive pulley is preferably formed with a rubber face to increase its frictional engagement with the drive member with which it is associated, although it will be understood that this particular form of pulley is not essential.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present fountain can be readily applied to presses of different constructions so far as concerns the relative position of the ink cylinder and that member of the printing press which is to serve as the drive member for the force feed used in supplying the ink from the reservoir to the ink cylinder. In other words, the position of the reservoir with its ink cylinder engaging bottom may remain substantially constant with respect to the ink cylinder of a press while, at the same time, the drive mechanism for the force feed is readily adjustable to operatively associate it with any one of a number of moving parts of the press regardless of the position of the latter with respect to the ink cylinder. It will also be appreciated that the present reservoir, with its operating connections, can be readily mounted or dismounted. This feature is particularly advantageous in connection with the successive use of inks of different colors during the printing operation. As the reservoir with its associated parts may be mounted or bolted on the press or a fixed member of the press frame in any suitable manner no specific form of mounting is shown or described but it will be appreciated that by' reason of the adjustability of the driving connections for plunger I9 it is a comparatively simple matter to mount the reservoir in the proper position relatively to the ink cylinder and then adjust the driving connections to operatively associate them with a revolving part of the press. This ease of assembly lends to the interchangeable usage of plural reservoirs in printing, successively, with diiferently colored inks.

What is claimed is:

1. In a pressure feed ink fountain for printing presses and the like, a reservoir comprising side walls and a bottom, ink ducts communicating with the interior of the reservoir and terminating at one edge of said bottom, a reciprocatory plunger in the reservoir for forcing ink into said. ducts, a drive shaft for said plunger, a gear' mounted on said shaft, said shaft being journaled in opposite walls of the reservoir and projecting beyond one of said walls, a bushing for said shaft in the last mentioned reservoir wall, a bracket releasably clamped on said bushing, said bracket being adjustable circumferentially of said shaft when released from said bushing, and driving connections carried by said bracket and operatively associated with said gear.

2. In la pressure feed ink fountain for printing presses and the like, a reservoir comprising side walls and a bottom, ink ducts communicating with the interior of the reservoir and terminating at one edge of said bottom, a reciprocatoryplunger in the reservoir for forcing ink into said ducts. a drive shaft for said plunger, a gear mounted on said shaft, said shaft being journaled in opposite walls of the reservoir and projecting beyond one of said walls, a bushing for said shaft in the last mentioned reservoir wall. a bracket releasably clamped on said bushing, said bracketA being adjustable-circumferentlally of said shaftjwhen released from said bushing, a stub shaft jourv 3. In a pressure feed mk fountain for printing presses and the like, a reservoir comprising a bottom. side and end walls, ink ducts-communicating.

with the interior of thereservoina reciprocatory plunger in the reservoir for forcingink into said ducts, a drive shaft for said plunger journaled in two opposite walls of the reservoir with the 'shaft projecting outwardly beyond one of said walls, a gear on the projecting end of the shafta bracket journaled concentrically of said shaft end, and driving connections carried by said bracket and operatively associated with said gear. said bracket and the driving connections being movable circumferentially of said shaft to adjust said driving connections vertically and laterally -with respect to said reservoir.

4. In a pressure feed ink fountain for printing presses and the like, a reservoir. ink ducts extending from said reservoir, a reciprocating plunger in the reservoir for forcing ink into said ducts, a bushing mounted in and projecting outwardly beyond one wall of said reservoir, an operating shaft for said plunger journaied in said bushing. one end of said shaft projecting outwardly beyond said bushing, a gear on the projecting end of said shaft, a bracket releasably locked onthe 6 projecting portion of said bushing but adjustable .circumferentially of said shaft and bushing when re'leasedfa'v stub shaft journaledin saidbracket.

av gear on saidstub shaft meshing with'the rst mentioned gear, and adriving member 'mounted .on said stub shaft.

5. In a pressure feed ink fountain for printing presses and the like, an ink reservoir, an elongated recess in'the bottom of said reservoir, ink

ldeliveryA ducts communicating with said recess.

a reciprocatory plate having one edgevin. registry fwith said recess, said edge being of a length substantially corresponding to that of said recess. and meansl for reciprocating said plate in -said relcess comprising alshaft journaled in opposite walls` of the-reservoir, a gear mounted on said ,shaft and driving Aconnections forsaid gear rovtatably supported on a bushing concentriewith said shaft exteriorly of the reservoir and operatively associated with said gear, said driving connections being adjustable circumferentially of said shaft. and means for releasably locking said vconnections relatively to said bushing.

JOSEPH P. v DORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the l file of this patent:l

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Granger Sept. 20, 192'? 

